I've been so busy lately that I haven't gotten the chance to read as often as I used to. Thanksgiving Break gave me some extra time to procrastinate by reading instead of doing my homework. I didn't realized how parched I was from my lack of reading and ended up reading an entire book overnight. I stayed up until one in the morning to finish it. Granted, the book itself may have just been that good... But finally getting to read again made me remember how much I love it, so I've complied a list of some of my favorite stand alone books for when you just don't have time to get hooked on a series.

1. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

This was the book I just read last week, in one night. It follows a 17 year old junior boy Simon, in high school who happens to be gay isn't out yet. He chats with another boy from his school who is also gay, but they email each other with fake names. "Jacques" a.k.a Simon tries to figure out who "Blue" is, all while being blackmailed. It's a funny, sweet story of personal acceptance and has you wondering the entire time, Who is Blue?

2. 13 Reasons Why

I can't remember too much about this book except what your average summary will tell you. I do remember, however, that I was wanting to read it forever and once I finally got the chance to, I read it in one day. It's a bit of a tear jerker so take caution.

3. Go Ask Alice

This is a sad one, but worth it.

4. The Book Thief

I'm sensing a pattern in my own recommendations, this is yet another sad one. It's more on the historical side and one of the few on this list that is also a movie (the book is better).

5. Eleanor and Park

I vividly remember some of the ending scenes in this book, it's a wonderful love story and everyone seems to recommend it, why not read it and join the bandwagon?

6. The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight

I'm not going to lie, I have a love hate relationship with the title of this book, it's much too long but also very fitting. The title really says it all and it's very cute.

7. The Infinite Moment of Us

Now I'm getting on a love story kick, but love stories are great to read. Let's just say I have a plethora of sticky notes in this book of memorable quotes, that's how much I loved it.

8. I'll Give You the Sun

Follows a set of twins with very different stories that come together in the end. This description may seem boring but I didn't want to give anything away.

9. The Sky is Everywhere

Read one book by Jandy Nelson and you're hooked...

10. Being Henry David

I read this one in one night too. I remember because we were learning about Henry David Thoreau in English and I was so in love with the way the book used him.

11. The Duff

It's nothing like the movie. I can almost say I liked the movie better but only because the entire plot line was different. The book is a bit more R rated than PG 13 but not for super bad reasons. It's a good read, trust me.

12. Any John Green Book

I understand this counts as 6+ more books, but they are all great. I haven't even read them all, but I know they're great. I mean two of them already have movies so that's got to mean something. One thing I love about John Green is he writes it like it is, his stories are as realistically teen related as can be and they don't always have a happy ending.

Tune in next week for my 12 Series to get hooked on.